Brewing Storm
by Miss Lilianae
Summary: The war between the UNSC and the Covenant has finally reached Earth. The Master Chief has just jumped from the strange, forerunner vessel and crashed in the forests outside the city of new mombasa. Sergeant Major Avery Johnson and his team are dispatched to retrieve him, and along the way they find the Guardian of Lightning, but this isn't the same one they know.
1. Arrival

Brewing Storm  
Chapter 1: Arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of the characters involved except Guardian L. Lightning

The jungles outside New Mambasa were calm, the occasional breeze rustling the tree branches throughout the forested area. A boot stamped through the watered down mud of the forest floor as it sprinted toward a location somewhere off into the forest. A purple vessel flew past it and the figure looked up, a human man with dark skin and a green cap on his head growled to himself.

"Something wrong sir?" Another figure asked in a whisper as he approached.

"Covenant dropship, stay low, it's getting close," The man replied as he led his team deeper into the forest.

Meanwhile, another figure was stirring from his slumber. With a groan of pain he opened his eyes and looked around.

"What? Where am I?" he asked as he got up and looked around. He stood and immediately staggered.

"Whoa, what's… wait, how?" he looked down in surprise.

"My legs… they… they work? What's… what's going on?" he asked as he looked up the sky.

"Freeze!" a voice called to him.

The figure looked toward the voice and spotted the dark-skinned man from before.

"What are you doing out here kid? This place isn't safe,"

"I… I don't know… who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, and you're in my warzone,"

"Warzone?"

"Yes, the covenant are swarming all over this jungle looking for the same thing we are," Johnson explained.

"Covenant?" the figure asked.

"You been living under a rock? The Covenant! Y'know, aliens? Trying to kill humanity?"

"Wait, what? Please, you have to tell me what's going on, you have to take me home," The young man took a step toward Johnson but he raised his rifle and pointed it at him.

"You need to step back and calm down, this isn't the time to get all homesick. First you're gonna tell me what you're doing here and why you're dressed like that,"

"Dressed like?" He looked over himself and realized he was wearing a simple pair of shorts and a jacket with a shawl over his shoulders. He felt a loop attached to his belt and a ring on his finger, and noticed he wasn't wearing shoes. All of his clothes were bright yellow in color.

"I don't know," he said.

"Don't know? You're telling me you don't know how you ended up a hundred klicks from the nearest city dressed in some kind of civilian get up with no shoes and sleeping in a crater that looks like you dropped a box of grenades in it?"

Looking around for the first time the young man realized he was indeed in a large crater, although it wasn't very deep he could tell something had hit the ground with a sizable force.

"Sargeant Johnson, I'm sorry I'm not much help. All I know is that I woke up this morning in my wheelchair in my home and-"

A vision cut him off as he remembered what had happened: He woke up in his bed, his wheelchair had been electric and it was plugged into the wall charging, what he didn't know was that a surge had run through his house and overcharge his wheelchair, reaching out to touch the metal handlebars to pull himself up into he was electrocuted, the metal conducting the electricity into his body.

"Well it doesn't look like you need a wheelchair anymore son," Johnson said to him.

"I… listen, please, I just need to get home," he said as his senses returned to him.

Johnson seemed skeptical as the young man made his plea, but after a moment he sighed and lowered his weapon. "Fine, we can take you back to base and they'll get you home, but you'll need to wait until we got what we came for, so keep your mouth shut and your head down, got it?"

He nodded

Johnson signaled for the squad to move up and advance before approaching his new companion. "You got a name kid?"

He wanted to say his name, but he couldn't remember what it was, a simple image of a bolt of lightning appeared in his mind. "Lightning,"

Johnson's eyebrow raised as he said that "Guardian L. Lightning?"

The young man shook his head, "Yeah, that's it,"

Johnson sighed as he hefted his gun up into his arms and began to move toward the rest of his squad.

"Come on then, you've got a hell of an explanation to give,"

Lightning seemed confused as he followed Johnson and his squad deeper into the trees. They silently crept their way through the jungle, before long they eventually arrived in a small clearing, Johnson's men took up positions around the perimeter while Johnson and Lightning stepped to the center. Johnson let out a low, soft whistle and a figure appeared in front of them, shimmering into existence as its cloaking device was turned off. The figure wasn't human, standing a good foot taller than Johnson, its limbs were long, but thick with muscle and its jaw wasn't the normal upper and lower jaws of a human, but four mandibles that opened and flapped when it spoke.

"Greeting sergeant, I'm glad you made it here safely," it said in a deep voice, "Who is your companion?"

"This is an old friend of the chief's, somehow he's turned back up just in time," Johnson explained.

The figured looked to him and bowed his head as he put his three-fingered hand over his chest. "I am Thel Vadam, though most know me as the Arbiter,"

"Guardian L. Lightning," Lightning said as he replicated the Arbiter's action.

"I have heard tales of your valor Guardian, if what the demon spoke of you is true, then you have turned up just in time to lend us aid,"

"I just want to go home," Lightning responded.

The Arbiter seemed confused at his words, looking to Johnson the sergeant shrugged unknowingly, the Arbiter nodded and put his hand on Lightning's shoulder.

"We will get you home then young Guardian, do not worry,"

"Sir! We've got him!" A voice called through the trees. Johnson readied his rifle and had his squad move up. Lightning following slightly behind while the Arbiter disappeared into cloaking once again. The squad made their way through the jungle and eventually found themselves in a linear clearing, although unlike the previous one where the ground had been flat, this time the clearing was a ditch, it looked like something had been dragged through the ground. Following the trail Lightning's eyes widened as he spotted a figure in green armor some distance away. The soldiers were pouring over it while Johnson watched.

"Damn, why does he always jump?" he asked has pulled out a cigar and put it into his mouth.


	2. Reunion

Brewing Storm  
Chapter 2: Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of characters involved except Guardian L. Lightning

Lightning and Johnson's squad approached the armored figure, the soldiers took up positions save for Johnson and one other who slid down to a knee beside the figure.

"What his status?" Johnson asked, the cigar bouncing in his mouth as he spoke.

"Armor's locked up tight," The marine replied as he pulled out a small data pad.

Inputting a few keys the figure's arms, which had been locked in an upward position, dropped to his sides and the hiss of air was heard in the small clearing.

Johnson sighed "Radio for VTOL, heavy lift gear, we're not leaving him here," he turned to tap off some of the ash from his cigar when the figure's hand reached up and grabbed his arm.

"No, you're not," it said in a deep voice as it stood.

"Crazy fool, why do you always jump? One of these days you're gonna land on something as stubborn as you are, and I don't do bits and pieces," Johnson looked into the visor of the Master Chief, his face reflected in the orange light.

"Lightning," Chief said to the young Guardian.

"Sir…" Lightning replied, not quite sure what was going on.

"What's your situation Lieutenant? Where's your armor?" Chief asked him.

"I… I don't know anything about what's going on," Lightning replied.

Chief looked to Johnson who shook his head.

"Alright, we'll talk once we're somewhere safe," Chief nodded to Lightning before his head jerked to his left.

The Arbiter was coming out of active camouflage and Chief leapt into action. Reaching down for Johnson's side arm he pulled the weapon out and readied a round before shoving the weapon between the Arbiter's lower two mandibles.

"Wait! Chief, he's with us!" Johnson shouted as he realized what was going on.

"C'mon now, we've got enough to worry about without you two tryin' to kill each other,"

Chief lowered the weapon and the Arbiter shook his head, "Were it so easy,"

"Uh… I hate to interrupt, but should we be standing here?" Lightning asked.

"Kids right, we need to move," Chief looked to Johnson.

"Yes, the brute's must have our scent by now," The Arbiter turned and began to head back into the jungle.

"Then they must love the smell of a real hero," Johnson said as he signaled for one of the marine's to give him his rifle.

The soldier handed over the weapon to Johnson who in turn handed it to Chief.

"Stay low, keep quiet, we'll get you home," Chief told Lightning as he walked past him.

The young man nodded and followed the group through the jungle. The team silently made their way through the trees and dense foliage before eventually arriving at a shallow lake and overheard the engines of a covenant dropship. They all ducked into the leaves and waited as the strange craft flew past. Chief rounded a corner, only taking a half glance as he remained in cover behind a small cliff face.

Before him was a squad of six grunts and their brute commander on a lower ridge standing in the middle of the shallow creek that flowed from the lake. The dropship lowered down on the far side of the ridge and more grunts began to leap from inside it. Soon there were just over a dozen grunts and three brutes. Chief lifted his left hand and signaled to his squad the size of the enemy force. He then followed those signs with a set of signaled instructions. When he finished the marines went on the move.

Keeping low they darted from the cover of the cliff face to a large boulder on the opposite side of the ridge. Johnson, Lightning, and the Arbiter moved up to be directly behind Chief.

"What's the plan Chief?" Johnson asked in a whisper.

"Marines on the other side will lay down a burst of fire, get them to dart into cover and allow us to move up. We push the offensive while the marines lay down more covering fire,"

"Simple," Johnson nodded.

"Should I stay here?" Lightning asked.

The Arbiter put a hand on his shoulder which drew his attention to the large alien's face. He nodded to Lightning once, a simple gesture, and Lightning knew what to do.

Chief raised his hand quickly so that the Marine would see the motion, it was currently clenched into a fist. He waited for a second before opening his hand by sticking his fingers straight up, he then pointed them at the two merged squads of covenant below. The marines ducked out of cover and began to lay down a barrage of bullets. The two squads, startled at the sudden sound of gunfire, scrambled for cover, a majority of the grunts went down in the initial barrage. Once all of the hostiles were either dead or hiding Chief took off around the corner. Johnson and Arbiter followed suit while the Marines fired off a short burst of gunfire whenever one of the covenant poked their heads up.

Lightning waited patiently, his nerves running a million miles an hour as he heard the continuous sound of gunshots and plasma blasts from the retaliating covenant forces. Then, after a few minutes everything went quiet.

"All clear!" Johnson shouted.

The marines moved up to regroup while Lightning sighed in relief before moving to join them. The squad continued into a small cave, Chief had a brief moment where his vitals peaked and he was unresponsive, but he shrugged it off and ordered everyone to continue moving. Fighting through two more squads of covenant patrols the group eventually found themselves at a water treatment facility. Three large groups of covenant foot soldiers were engaging a large dropship. A single mounted machine gun in the troop bay was keeping all of them pinned down, but as the group arrived they heard a woman's voice come over the comms link:

"Banshees! Fast and low!"

Before the response could be issued three small, purple crafts flew by and dropped explosive green charges on the dropship. The large craft began to spiral out of control and eventually crashed on the opposite side of the river. The covenant soldiers, now free to move about stood and resumed their patrols. Chief delivered a quick plan to his squad and the soldiers were quick to enact the plan. Moving forward the squad laid down a barrage of gunfire in all directions that made quick work of anyone caught in it by surprise. As they were finishing up the last of the soldiers they heard the return of the Banshees as the vessels screamed back toward them.

"Find cover!" Chief shouted to his team.

The soldiers all ducked behind the large boulders and watched as the Banshees flew by overhead.

"I think they spotted us Chief! They're turning around!" One of the soldiers called out.

Lightning saw their position and knew they were sitting ducks. His nerves overtook him again and he began to panic. His heart began to beat in his ears drowning out the loud scream of the banshees, his vision focused to one point as it began to darken on the edges. He knew he was going to die here, this was it.

Then another vision came to him: He saw himself stand up straight and put his ringed hand through the loop on his belt, energy began to collect around his hand and as he pulled it back through he was holding a large weapon of some kind. His sight returned to normal and without hesitation he repeated the actions he saw. In his hands was a large, long-barreled rifle. Aiming the weapon up at the incoming Banshees he put the sight on the craft and pushed the trigger, but nothing happened.

"What? Is it broken? C'mon," He muttered as he lowered the weapon and looked at it.

"Kid! Get down!" Johnson shouted at him.

Lightning heard the growing loudness of the banshees and thought of something: He aimed the weapon again and this time he held the trigger. The barrel began to glow with energy before, in a flash, one of the banshees was sent careening down into the river. Lightning grinned before taking aim and firing two more times, dropping the three aircraft. Chief and his team poked their heads out of cover and looked to Lightning who was holding the smoking weapon.

"Nice shooting kid, but would you mind telling us when you're gonna do that next time?" Johnson said to him.

Lightning nodded and pushed the weapon back through the loop on his belt, causing it to dissipate into energy once again.

"Let's move," Chief said to the team and they all followed him deeper into the jungle.


	3. Questions Answered

Brewing Storm  
Chapter 3: Answers

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of the characters involved except Guardian L. Lightning and Guardian S. Storm

Chief's squad continued to make their way through the jungle, clearing out a valley of snipers and eventually moving toward a large power plant-dam hybrid.

"Radio chatter's been talking about some Marines who got caught and are held here." Johnson told Chief.

The Arbiter pointed at the far side of the structure and the group followed his finger to see a marine being tossed into a small building.

"There, you see how the Brutes bait their trap?"

Chief nodded and looked through the scope of his rifle, he surveyed the whole plant before nodding. He looked to the squad of marines behind him and laid out a quick plan. After everyone was clear on their role Lightning put his hand through the loop on his belt again, drawing out the same weapon as before.

"Save that for bigger targets: Brutes, chieftains if you see any. They've got large headpieces." Chief told him.

He nodded.

The squad waited for Chief's signal, and after a moment of waiting they slid down the small cliff they'd been hiding on. As they touched down on the concrete of the dam the began to open fire on the grunts nearby. Lightning sighted their Brute commander and lifted his rifle, holding a charge before firing it straight through the large ape-like alien's chest. As he fell some of the nearby grunts began to panic and flee. As the first few turned, others soon joined them and the Chief's squad had an easy time mopping up the routed survivors. Pushing forward they entered a large structure that led out on to the dam's main walkway. More Grunts and a few brutes, one of which was a Chieftain. Chief looked to Lightning and ran his thumb over his throat and flicked his head toward the Chieftain.

Lightning nodded back and gulped. A lump had formed in his throat as he walked forward. He took aim and charged up the weapon once again. He felt it hum in his hands before the shot fired, arcing through the Chieftain's torso and into some of the nearby grunt's methane packs, causing them to explode. The Marines all looked to Lightning who seemed just as shocked at his weapon's destruction.

"Move, they're not all neutralized." Chief called to his squad which snapped everyone back to attention.

The team pushed forward, catching the dazed and stunned survivors of the initial blast off-guard. They quickly finished them off and pushed back toward the small structure that housed the captured marines. Mopping up the pair of brute guards with ease they freed the marines and called for an evac dropship. Holding position against a new force of covenant they were relieved as the friendly pelican unloaded a barrage of missiles at the bridge, clearing it of hostiles. The squad piled in and soon they were flying toward home base.

The pelican set down in an underground landing pad, and as the marines disembarked Chief, Arbiter, Johnson, and Lightning were met by a woman in a gray military uniform. She saluted them and they saluted back.

"Where'd you find him?" She asked Johnson.

"Nappin', out back."

"I'm sure of it."

She began to lead the way deeper into the base, giving a sit rep of what's been going on after the Prophet of Truth's fleet burst through the UNSC blockade in orbit. They were now excavating near the outskirts of the city of New Mombasa. They were digging for something, but the UNSC hadn't discovered what that was just yet.

"Also. A familiar face showed up to say hi," She said to the chief as they turned and entered the command center.

A figure wearing a suit of yellow MJOLNIR armor turned and saluted the Chief. Chief saluted back.

"Chief. Good to see you again." He said.

"Lieutenant Lightning." Chief answered back.

"Storm these days. That's Lightning. Long story." Storm answered as he pointed at Lightning.

"Might explain why the kid didn't know how to use his weapon when we found him." Johnson spoke up.

"Yes. You could say he's new to this whole situation. I'll fill him in on all the details. If you'll give me a moment with him?"

Chief nodded and pushed Lightning towards Storm. Storm nodded to him and led the way to a quiet corner of the command center. He lifted his hands and took off his helmet, the pressurized locks hissed as he did so. Lightning gasped as he found himself looking at his own face, but older, and more grizzled, with a large scar running down the left side.

"Who are you?" Lightning asked.

"Guardian S. Storm, your mentor. Sorry for not finding you sooner. You caught us all off-guard when you materialized."

"Materialized?" Lightning asked.

Storm nodded. "I don't have time to explain everything, at least not right this minute. If you want I can send you back to my home. You'll be safe there until I complete my mission here."

Lightning looked back to Chief who was currently discussing things with Commander Keyes, the woman in the gray uniform.

"I'd like to stay." He answered turning back to Storm.

"Good man. You might want this then." Storm held out his hand and a large case appeared on the ground underneath it. Lightning lifted the lid and found an identical suit of armor to Storm's inside.

"It's MJOLNIR armor. Potent stuff. I don't much like getting hit so I wear mine when I come to this world." He explained.

Lightning nodded as he pulled the helmet out.

"Get suited up Private Lightning, you have five minutes." Storm slapped him on the back as he stood up and began to make his way back to Chief on the others.

"And remind me to go over your weapon choice with you later." He called back over his shoulder.

Lightning nodded as he began to dig through the box and pick out the different pieces of armor.

After a few minutes he flexed a few of his limbs to make sure the armor was secured. He then approached Storm and the others as they finished the briefing.

"Sounds like you have a plan." Storm told her.

Keyes nodded.

"Ma'am!" a soldier called to her.

They all turned to look at him.

"I have Lord Hood."

"Patch him through."

A large screen lit up with an older gentleman in a white military uniform.

"I trust you have good news commander?" He asked.

"As good as it gets sir."

"So I see. What's your status?"

"Green… Sir" Chief answered.

"Lightning, glad to see you brough some extra firepower this time." Lord Hood nodded to the Guardian.

"Thank you sir," Storm answered back.

They began to go over their plan:

Truth's ships were excavating like Commander Keyes had told them, and they had anti-aircraft batteries set-up along the perimeter of the excavation site. If they could punch a hole through the defenses by taking out of one of the batteries then Lord Hood would initiate a strike with some of their remaining heavy-class ships. As they were about to go over the final details the power went out.

"What's the situation soldier?" Keyes asked.

"Power's out and the back-up generators are offline and rebooting."

"As soon as they're back up re-establish communication with Lord Hood and-"

She was cut off as the screens lit up again. A gray-skinned figure with a large gold crown and red robes was now features on the screen.

"You are, all of you, vermin…" He began.

The Prophet of Truth continued a monologue explaining how the Human Race will burn and their planet will fall, as the Covenant will take what is rightfully there's, and not even their greatest soldier can stop them.

As the Prophet finished the power returned and the screen dimmed.

"Ma'am, multiple reports of hostile forces closing in on the base. What do we do?"

Keyes thought for a moment. "Tell everyone to get out. Abandon the base."

He nodded and began to issue the orders.

"Sorry to give you so little break, but we need you back out there again." She told Chief and the Guardians.

"No problem ma'am, it's what we do." Storm answered back.

"Ma'am, squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where do they go?"

Keyes pulled her sidearm out of the holster on her belt and pulled back on the weapon to ensure it was loaded.

"To war."


End file.
